A former builder has been jailed for allowing more than £50,000 of drugs to be stored in his garage lock-up.

Alan Cooper, of Mill Lane, Witham, admitted possessing more than 1.1g of cocaine, and of aiding and abetting the possession of £37,200-worth of cannabis, £13,320 of ecstasy and £4,243-worth of cocaine.

Father-of-three Cooper, 39, was jailed for four years by Judge Peter Dedman at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday (Monday).

The court heard how Cooper was stopped by police near his garage space in Faber Road, Witham, on May 4 this year.

Officers discovered he had between £50 and £80-worth of cocaine in his wallet.

He was then asked if he had any more drugs, and Cooper showed them two holdalls which were being stored in his garage by an unnamed third party.

Samantha Leigh, prosecuting, said: "He said he was looking after them for someone else." John Dodd, for Cooper, described him as a "loving family man" who was "hard-working" and whose father had died of a drugs overdose when he was 12 years old. Mr Dodd added Cooper was going through a divorce at the time and had advised his children of the dangers of drugs.

By Laurence Cawley

Reporter's e-mail: laurence_cawley@thisisessex.co.uk

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